The Ohinoyi and paramount ruler of Ebiraland, Alh (Dr.) Ado Ibrahim, has attributed the boom in illegal mining business in the country to alleged weakness on the part of successive governments to decisively deal with the menace.
Alhaji Ibrahim said that illegal mining had continued to thrive in Nigeria because successive governments had failed to deploy the machinery of state to tackle the problem.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Abuja, he lamented the backwardness of the sector, stating that illegal mining was one of the reasons for investment failure in the sector.
The royal father warned that if the ugly trend was not immediately checked, it would result in the failure of many more investment opportunities in the sector.
He said, “I have advised this government and the previous governments to consider establishing mines police. In my days in the minefield, I was very conversant with mine rangers, who were more or less police men trained to go to the minefields to spy on operators in order to expose their dirty dealings. They were able to expose illegal miners. Those days, mine rangers were very effective and they helped to prevent revenue leakages. I have continued to advocate this, but I don’t think it has been considered.
“In my own mining lease, there are more illegal miners than licensed operators such that they make the profits, which licensed operators would have made, thereby making the licensed miners losers.
“I do not hold government directly responsible for illegal mining, but I would say government is indirectly responsible because it failed to stop illegal mining. After all, there is no reason why it cannot stop illegal miners from operating.”
According to the monarch, “government ought not to tolerate illegal mining. It ought to engage the police and the Army to force a stop, but it has not been able to do so till date.
“Illegal mining has continued to stunt the development of the sector because foreign investors are not keen on investing in a sector that has become unsafe as a result of the continued activities of an outlawed group of miners.
“I can’t excuse the government; I don’t expect that illegal miners, some of who are illiterates, can so permanently outsmart government while the government continues to claim that it is doing its best to rid the sector of illegal mining activities.”
The Ohinoyi, however, tasked foreign investors operating in the Nigerian mining sector to be just and fair to host communities, irrespective of the money and technology they might be willing to invest in the country.
He stated that there was hardly any investment that could succeed without consideration for the social and economic interest of the host communities.
Lamenting Nigeria’s lost glory, the monarch recalled, “Nigeria was sometime the largest producer of tin ore in the world. During the Second World War, Nigeria was next to Malaysia, but today, all that glory is lost.”
While partly attributing the decline to illegal mining, he noted with concern that Nigeria failed to take advantage of growth opportunities afforded by the technological age.
“It is sad, especially that it is happening at a time when technology should be used to advance the prosperity of the sector as have done Nigeria’s contemporaries,” he said.
Prescribing a blueprint for successful approach of the host communities, he said, “Host communities are very interested in what they stand to gain from businessmen who come to mine in their communities. The best way to gain from a planned investment is to approach locals with kindness and determination to be fair and just to them.
“An unfriendly investor is not likely to get cooperation of the host community.”
The monarch added that communities had become wiser and enlightened about the rules, noting that justice was the timeless philosophy of successful entrepreneurship all over the world.
